Livingstone Tourism Association – LTA has welcomed the move by the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) to restrict the use of commercial cargo by road through the Victoria Falls border.
Association Chairperson Rodney Sikumba said the restriction will help to preserve the life span of the bridge as well as safeguard it for tourism activities.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, Sikumba said there is very little infrastructure development that has happened on the bridge over the years and it has been slowly weakening owing to the increased load and age of the bridge.
He said the bridge was built a long time ago and is currently not in a very good state because of the high traffic, adding that ZRA did make mention of the facilities at the border post, which can only take in so much so restricting the tonnage, is a good move.
“We want the bridge to exist and be preserved; we share it with Zimbabwe, so we need people to access the bridge. Imagine a time where that bridge collapses or becomes too dilapidated and we can’t use it anymore, what will happen is that we will be unable to go to the Victoria Falls using the bridge and we may need to use water taxis”, he said.
He said the bridge also has some semblance of history attached to it and tour operators use it when showing tourists around therefore its importance.
He further said the tonnage that would have passed through will now be routed to the multi-million dollar bridge in Kazungula, which needs traffic in order to generate revenue, so it is important to look at it in such a way, adding that since the border is not closed and only a certain tonnage will be restricted, business will be as usual.
Sikumba mentioned that business in the tourist capital is still very slow because the numbers of covid-19 cases keep increasing and the average occupancy rates at hotel and accommodation facilities remains between 0-5 percent every month.
“Business is very slow and we have our staff who also want to be paid so we have continued to engage the government to see how we can proceed”, he said.
In line with SI No. 115 of 2020 that came into effect on 1st January 2021, the Zambia Revenue Authority informed all importers and exporters and the general public that importation and exportation of commercial cargo through the Victoria Falls border will only be allowed on rail transport.
The authority explained that all commercial cargo intended for import and export using the road will have to use alternative entry or exit points such as Kazungula or Chirundu.
ZRA noted that non-commercial cargo or vehicles below 16 tonnes will still be allowed to use the border post adding that the border remains available for use to all hawkers, individual traders, and tourists.
The authority said the measure is meant to preserve the Victoria Falls Bridge and bring sanity to Livingstone town which is Zambia’s main tourist capital, adding that the measure is also meant to reduce human-animal conflict around the border area where truck accidents have been recorded.
ZRA further noted that the limited facilities at Victoria Falls Border Post were not designed to handle commercial cargo and that over the years, trade volumes have increased in the region, hence creating challenges for border officials who are unable to conduct detailed physical inspections due to limited space and other requisite handling facilities at the border post.
According to information made available to ZBT, ZRA also mentioned that due to the location of the border post in the national park area, there has been an increase in animal and human conflict of late.
